Lonewind Valley

Rouge yawned for the second time in three minutes. She figured it was around two in the morning, but wasn’t really sure, she’d stopped checking at midnight. Her eyes were getting droopy and she’d nearly broken a glass once, and wasn’t sure she’d be able to hold onto any of the rest. Logan had run off with Ororo to make sure she got only the best housing accommodations, which left Rogue in charge of the place.
“Gimme another one honey” some random patron had stepped up to the bar and she’d not even noticed that is until he’d called her honey.
“Ah aint doin nothin ‘less you never call me that again” she said suddenly feeling slightly awake.
“Oh come on honey, just one more drink” the strange man slurred to her.
“Ah think you’ve had enough for the night, and ya’ll should be thinkin’ bout walkin home.” She said as she set the mug she was drying down on the shelf they belong on.
“But honey-“ the man was cut off as Logan grabbed the back of the man’s neck and turned him towards the door walking him like a dog.
“The lady said you’ve had enough, I’d suggest listening to her.” He growled before pushing the man through the swinging saloon doors.
“Bout damned time ya’ll came back Logan… Ah’m exhausted!” she stated as she picked up another mug to dry.
“Sorry darlin’ I had business to attend to” he replied in his ever scratchy voice.
“Ah bet you did… “ She mumbled. “Have ya’ll ever thought about maybe gettin’ a little more help around here? Ah caint do it all by mah lonesome”
“When I find someone else I trust I’ll hire ‘em, in the meantime yer doin fine” he said as he rounded behind the bar but stopped in his tracks at her reaction.
“NO AH’M NOT!” she yelled at him setting the mug down harder then she’d intended and winces slightly as it shattered and the bar noise suddenly quieted down.
“Damnit Rogue, this aint the time to talk about this” he growled at her.
Most normal people would be wetting themselves in fear of pissing off the man they call the wolverine, but not Rogue, she’d saved his life once and he swore to protect her from then on. “Oh it’s the perfect time Logan! Ah caint keep this bar runnin on mah own, ah’m about ready to collapse here and now. Ah swear to everythang holy that if you don’t promise to have help for me next week, ah’m walkin outta here right now…” she stated to him in a half-raised voice. She knew he’d gotten the point.
“Fine, on Monday you’ll have help… you know if that day hadn’t-“
“Ah know, you’d be dead and Ah’d be unemployed!” she cut him off and finished it in her own words. “Now it’s y’all’s turn to work the bar, ah haven’t slept in 24 hours…” she said as she tossed the rag on the counter.
“Whadda mean you haven’t a break in 24 hours… you had a two hour one at noon!” he grumbled as he walked over and picked up the towel.
“Ah didn’t say ah hadn’t had a break… ah said ah hadn’t slept, Ah’ve got other business of mah own that needs tending to now and then.” She smiled at him as she walked over to Remy’s table.

Remy by this time was well beyond drunk. When Rogue put her hand on his shoulder, he tried to pull away but failed miserably.
“Remy hasn’t cheated Mon ami!” he yelled unable to tell that he wasn’t being kicked out.
“Ah know sugah, it’s time for bed” she said calmly as she took hold of his arm and helped him to stand up.
“Rogue?” he squinted at her, then he turned to the two men sitting at the table. “Au Revior mon amies!! Remy is going to bed!” he stated drunkenly and then tried to walk away only to stumble over the chair and be caught by Rogue.
“Come on sugah… lets get you upstairs.” She soothed him as she helped him scale the stairs and the couple disappeared into her room.

The two men sitting at the table all began to smirk to themselves before getting up and heading to the bar.
“Damn that woman is a sexy piece.” One of the men said matter-of-factly as he sat down on one of the stools not knowing that Logan paying a particularly close ear to their conversation
“I don’t know what in hell she sees in that French muttering swamp rat… what’s he got that I don’t got!” The second man yelled as he tried to take a drink of his beer and missed terribly spilling all down the front of himself.
“Well for starters he’s at least got hand eye coordination, even when’s drunk. Plus… she looks to be in love with that smelly thief.”
“Eh… I guess you got a point there” the man said looking down at his now soaking shirt. “Well when my mouth can’t find the cup anymore, I need to go home” he said sliding off the stool and stumbling his way to the door.
“But that don’t mean she’s any less pursuable…” the other man said as he continued to sit at the bar drinking. It took him a good minute to finally realize that Logan was standing there staring at him with a look to kill. “What mate?”
“You’d best be watching what you say ‘bout my help” Logan stated plainly.
“Oh come on, don’t tell me you don’t want her as much as I do.”
“I did want her… once. She said no and I agreed. Ya see that’s what real men do… they respect the woman they pursue.” Logan set the mug he was drying down on the counter and threw the towel over his shoulder. “How many of those have ya had tonight?”
“What, beers?”
“What the hell else would I be askin ya about?”
“Bout 20 in the last three hours… why do ya ask?”
“Cause yer still sober, and now I wanna hire ya.”
“Excuse me?” The man sitting at the bar said.
“Any man who can drink 20 beers in 3 hours and still be seein straight should be workin for me. Ya heard what the lady said, she can’t work this place alone, and I have my own matters to attend to, so I wanna hire ya.”
“You don’t even know who I am though”
“What’s yer name?”
“John Allerdyce”
“Well John ya want the job or not? I’ll even give ya room to sleep in…” Logan said leaning on the bar glaring at the man for making him ask more than once.
“Are you really serious mate?” John replied his accent still as thick as the day he left australia.
“I’ve asked you three times already, don’t make me ask you again boy.”
“No, that wont be needed, I’ll take the job”
“Good show up here day after next, and I’ll have Rogue show you around and start teachin ya the way of the bar.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead”
“What’s her real name?”
“Who Rogue? No one really knows for sure, not even her, she was adopted as a kid, and when she left home, she left her name there…."
“Oh, well that makes sense.”

Both men were so involved in their conversation that they never heard the door open. Walking down the staircase she had to chuckle to herself at how entertained men can be by their beer.

“You’re not giving away rooms again are you Logan? You know I’ve got a full house, as it is my girls are already having to shack up with each other.” This had been her only complaint for the last six years, ever since Logan had hired Rogue. As she reached the bar, she lifted the gate and stepped behind it, her bright blue dress flowing behind her as she walked. The man sitting at the bar couldn’t help but stare at her, she was gorgeous. Her long red hair was pulled up with a comb and the soft red curls danced lightly about her neck, her amber colored eyes seemed to shine even brighter as she brought the small shotglass of whiskey up to her ruby lips.

“Now, now Raven, you know that I happen to be on good terms with the hotel owner just down the way, I’m not gonna give away any more of yer rooms to my employees.” Logan stated to her as if he were talking to a small child, it was always they way they talked to each other. He’d completely forgotten that John was still at the bar until he cleared his throat. “Oh right… er this is John, he’s my new help” Logan stated prying his eyes away from looking at the woman. “Now if you can give him directions to the hotel, I’ve got some stock to check before the morning hours.” Logan stated to her as he made his way through the employee door.
“So you’re gonna be the new help around here… John wasn’t it?” she asked him as she poured herself a small shot of whiskey.
“Guess so, he liked the fact that I’m still sober after 20 beers in three hours. Don’t think many men can do that.”
“Oh Remy’s got you beat by a mile and half there son.”
“Remy? Who’s Remy?” John asked with one of those jealous tones.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t notice the man that Rogue collected this evening… speaks with a french accent and is one hell of a drink of water…”
“Oh… that’s who Remy is.”
“Yep, that man can drink a well of alcohol and still be standing. The only reason he’s drunk at the end of the night, is due to the fact that Rogue gives him free drinks, and he’s basically made this place home.”
“So why didn’t Logan hire him to help?”
“Cause Rogue forbid it. She didn’t want to work with Remy along side her, she said it’d take away from the relationship.”
“Well I can understand that. So where’s this hotel that I’m gonna be shackin up in?” John asked her as he stood up and took the last swig of his beer.
“Well now you’d get lost if I just told you, and I can’t leave this place unattended now can I? So where just going to have to come up with… other arrangements… for tonight at least.” She smiled at him as she downed another shot of whiskey and walked around the bar to the other side. When she stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to face him, his eyebrow went up.
“Just what are you implying my dear?” he asked in that ever present Australian accent.
“Just what you think I am… now come on, I want you to see the view from my room.” She stated as she walked up the stairs smiling as his footsteps followed behind her.

*********************************************************

It had been a very long time since Ororo Monroe had been back in this town. Six months seemed like a lifetime for her to have been away. As she stood in the middle of the hotel room just looking around, a thought crossed her mind. ‘why did I come back here again?’ That’s the one question she’d been asking herself all night. After sitting in the bar drinking with Remy and Logan, she suddenly remembered why she’d left in the first place. A female bouncer was not what she had intended on being, but it had happened. She knew that once she got settled back into town, Logan would convince her into taking her old job back. Not that it was all that bad, to be feared by all the criminals in town was rather amusing, but having to deal with Remy’s habits was what she didn’t want to do. They had a history together, more than Rogue will ever know about, and she didn’t like seeing him this way. When they had been young in New Orleans, he was the best thief the world had known. She learned everything she knew from him, she had been completely smitten with him for years. She honestly hoped that Rogue hadn’t learned about their history together. She didn’t know if the poor girl would be able to handle knowing that Remy had taken her virginity. She sat down on the small sized bed as her mind wandered back to that day. It was and still has been the best day of her life.


New Orleans 15 years ago-

The day had gone well, they’d managed to pull of the heist that had been ‘one of the hardest jobs’ by most of the known criminals in all of New Orleans. Everyone said that bank was impossible to steal from, security everywhere, heavily armed guards at every corner, even the employees had taken enough lessons to know how to fight off thieves. They had done it, without getting noticed… but would never be able to take credit for it without bringing the consequences along with the fame. It was a great day, Remy had told her every last detail of the plan and for once it centered on her. She had been the key to the success of the heist, and she had done her part very well. She was so happy by the time they’d gotten back to their hideout that she’d almost forgotten what day it was.

“Happy Birthday petite!” Remy said as he held out a bottle of very expensive champagne.
“What is this? I thought we agreed on no gifts for my birthday!” She said as she took the champagne.
“Well it’s your sixteenth birthday chere, I figured you deserved somet’ing.” She said giving her that irresistible smile that only Remy Lebeau possessed.
“Now Remy Lebeau… you wouldn’t be trying to get me drunk now would you?”
“Now petite, we both know that Remy could never get you to do somet’ing you didn’t want to do” he said as he took the bottle from her and began to peel the foil wrapping off the cork. “Besides, it’s not like you have never been drunk before.” He winked at her as her face began to turn a shade of red.
“Hey you were the one who kept passing me the bottle, I was simply following your lead!”
She turned around and crossed the small room to find a set of glasses they could use with the champagne.
The cork on the bottle made a loud pop as she heard Remy begin to mutter obscenities in French as the bubbly liquid flowed over his hands like a waterfall.
“Causing problems again?” She said as she turned around to see Remy still struggling with the overflowing bottle.
“Oui cher, Remy never was to good wit’ dees t’ings.” He gave her that sly smile of his that made her heart melt.

Ororo walked up to him with every intention to wipe off his hands with the towel but something seemed to take over her when she got close to him. Her saunter towards him had given her a boost of confidence and as she neared him she reached out slowly and curled the fingers of her right hand around the neck of the bottle and took it from Remy setting it down on the dresser next to them. Then without really knowing what she was doing she reached out and grabbed one of his hands bringing it up to her lips and ran her tongue over the palm of his hand then licked her lips.
“That’s good champagne” she whispered to him a sultry look filling her eyes.
“Cher, dis aint right…” He felt the need to let her know that, but didn’t really know why.
“SShhhh Remy” She whispered as she brought his hand back up to her lips and began to suck on his fingers one by one licking the champagne off his hands and feeling him slowly begin to tremble. When she felt satisfied that she’d gotten the last of it off his hands she lowered his hand to her breast as she leaned forward and gently placed her lips on his. When she didn’t feel any response from him she pulled back a bit and looked at him.
“What is it?”
“We should not be doing dis cher, it aint right”
“What’s so wrong with this?”
“It just aint right is all… you still so young” he had said as more of a comforting statement than as a warning, but that was not the way it got interpreted.
“So it is me is it not? You can’t abide the thought of me” she said as she lowered her head and walked slowly defeated across the room
“Dat’s not it cher, Remy jus t’ink you deserve more dan what he can offer is all” He truly didn’t know how to handle this situation, he’d never run into it before.
“No I know, you just don’t want me is all… no one does.”
“Dat’s not true mon cher, Remy jus want to see you taken care of is all” He leaned against the dresser than turning just enough to face her as she stood arms crossed over her chest a few steps away from him.
“And who better to take care of me than you Remy? Do you not realize that you already do, that you offer me everything I’ve ever wanted in the world?”
“Now you just makin’ fun of poor Remy”
“No I’m not, don’t you see, all I ever wanted was for someone to love me. Just love me, that’s it, no more no less. Do you not see that?” She looked at him then with those pale ice blue eyes. The look of longing couldn’t have been mistaken but when the single tear fell from corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek, he could take no more.

With three steps he had crossed the room and wrapped her up in a passionate embrace as his lips met hers. She was taken so off guard that she hadn’t even known she’d stopped breathing until the kiss ended. When it did, there was no lack of passion in Remy’s movements. His lips trailed kisses down her jawbone, neck and along her collarbone. His hands found the hem of her shirt and as she raised her arms above her head he pulled the material away from her body exposing the perfect form of her upper physique. Tossing her shirt to the floor he had to admit he was a bit surprised to find she wore no bra, but her breasts were seemingly perfect and truly needed no bra. His hands trailed lightly over her bare arms taking in all the softness of her skin. His hands traveled over her stomach making her shiver ever so slightly. His hands trembled just a touch as he reached the top of her pants, all his questions were answered as he took one look into her lust filled eyes. She wanted this, wanted him so bad that the pleading he saw there made his soul ache.

Her hands were shaking as she ran them down his muscled torso. His body was so well toned it could have been carved of stone like the old greek gods. She let her fingers play over the six lumps of muscle that convulsed every time she ran her warm hands over them. When she felt his red eyes trying to find hers she absently looked up to meet them. All should could see in them was questions, he wasn’t sure she knew what she was doing. She saw the care in his eyes, knew he’d never hurt her, but wasn’t sure if she really wanted this or him. She closed her eyes for the briefest of moments and then looked him square in the eyes and saw his resolve melt.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hard. A small scream of surprise escaped her but quickly became a whimper of delight as he kissed her. His tongue prodded her lips and she opened them. The kiss became brusing with passion as Remy seemed determined to crawl inside her from the mouth. She broke the kiss when his hands grabbed her ass and lifted her off the ground. A small squeal left her as they flopped onto the bed with a small bounce and a quiet ‘umpf’ from both parties.

“Petite” was the one word that Remy was able to mutter before he crawled down her body to unfasten her pants. He pulled the top of the pants with him as he crawled further down her body. When he had her completely nude he stood and looked over her naked body. “Petite, you take Remy’s breath away” at those few simple words he saw the red blush cover her entire body and the first roll of thunder could be heard of the storm rolling in.

She watched him finish removing his own clothes and gave out a soft gasp as she laid eyes upon his naked form. She had to smile at the fact that the first time she ever saw a man naked was Remy standing at attention over her naked body. She watched him as he crawled up the bed to her. Her heart began to race as she realized that she was finally going to have sex with Remy. She’d waited ages to tell him, and now here it was, here birthday and her wish had come true. She cupped his face with her small hands and just looked into his eyes.

“Petite, you tremble”
“I-“
“What is it?”
“I love you Remy”

She didn’t even let him get in another word. She brought his face down to her in a tender kiss. The kiss broke moments later when she pulled away with a slight wince and she felt him enter her. “Remy” she said in more of a plead for comfort than anything else.

“Jus’ relax mon amore, it will help” He whispered the words in her ear and waited until he felt her body relax a little and the thunder died down to be replaced by the gentle patter of rain. He pushed a little farther into her petite body then gave her time to adjust to him. A small whimper seeped from her as he came to her hymen. “Now Petite, dis going to hurt a bit, but it is normal” he tried to be as re-assuring as he could. When he saw the look of acknowledgement and the quick nod from her he drew back and thrust forward to the hilt making a scream of shock escape her.

“Remy” she whimpered as the tears began to well and make her eyes sparkle.
“It okay mon amore, de worst is done” he wiped the first tear off her cheek and just held her for a moment and waited for her to stop trembling.
“I- I’m okay now” she stammered as she closed her eyes and forced herself to relax.
“J’taime mon amore, J’taime.” Her body relaxed fully at hearing those words, it seemed to mean more to her when he told her he loved her in french. She didn’t know why, but it did.

Present-

Ororo Monroe let out a ragged a sigh. She missed Remy. That memory had always been so clear and since that night, she’d never found anyone who could bring that feeling of complete love back into her heart. She chuckled at that thought, that the thought of Remy would make her mourn so for love. The scorn showed on her face then. She’d found him two nights later in bed with, not one, but two women. Neither of them were her. He’d told it wasn’t her, that it was a problem with him, an obsession even. She found out that night just how strong she was. She didn’t shed a tear, she just punched him and turned away from him right out the door. His right eye still held the small scar from where his skin broke open. She wondered what story he’d told Rouge about the scar, she was sure her name was omitted from it.

***********************************************************************